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UNION, N.J.—On Monday, connected living solutions provider Essence USA announced a new program, created in partnership with Affiliated Monitoring, to benefit dealers of Essence’s PERS products.

“The fully customizable program gives dealers a range of options about how to best run their PERS offerings, including order fulfillment - direct to the consumer or distributed to the dealer, customer service, invoicing and collections, equipment retrieval and refurbishment, and branding options,” the announcement read.

“PERS is a major focus at Affiliated,” Daniel Oppenheim, Affiliated’s vice president, said in a prepared statement. “We are excited to be able to provide this advanced system to our dealers who are interested in a turnkey PERS program.”

“We can customize a program for any dealer to make it easier to get into PERS,” Affiliated Managing Director Mike Zydor said in the announcement. “For the dealers already in the market, we can provide access to preprogrammed, leading-edge products at discounted rates.”

Essence’s Care@Home suite of PERS products benefits both dealers and end-users, Essence said in its announcement. The offering has a large radio communications range for devices, “allowing users maximum flexibility in moving around their home and property. They also offer a wide variety of safety and security sensors, giving dealers an attractive and scalable offering for their customer base,” the announcement said.

“Essence is on the forefront of in-home PERS technology and has a veteran management team behind it,” said Yaniv Amir, President, Essence USA, in the announcement. “Essence historically has only worked directly with larger players in the space, and we are excited to now bring our products to all Affiliated dealers.”

The program is scheduled to launch within the Affiliated dealer network at the end of May.

Security Systems News, for the 11th year in a row, is seeking the best and brightest young professionals in the security industry for its annual “20 under 40” awards.

"The award recognizes the next generation of leaders in our industry—the ones who are going to help push the security industry forward and drive the constant evolution in technology necessary to keep it strong and vibrant," said Paul Ragusa, editor of Security Systems News.

Nominations are now open. If an integrator, installer, monitoring center professional, dealer or end user stands out to you, feel free to submit their name here. Please specify which class your nomination is for—integrator, which encompasses roles within the industry, or end user. The deadline for nominations is Friday, June 30.

Employees from manufacturing or consulting companies are not eligible. However, they are encouraged to nominate an integrator or end user that is eligible. Nominees must be age 40 or younger—born in 1977 or later. You can nominate more than one person, and you can nominate yourself.

"Each year we look for security professionals who make everyone around them better through their dedication and hard work, and through their innovation and ambition to make a difference at their company or organization, and in the communities they work in," Ragusa said.

All “20 under 40” award recipients will be honored at a special reception at SSN’s TechSec Solutions conference, held in Delray Beach, Fla., in February 2018. TechSec Solutions is the industry’s premier conference on new and emerging technologies, and “20 under 40” winners are often invited to speak at the conference.

At ISC West last month it was nice to meet and catch up with Convergint Technologies' executive chairman and founder Dan Moceri, and president and CEO Ken Lochiatto, who were both kind enough to participate in an ssnTVnews video interview on the Security Systems News' trade show floor stage.

The global systems integration company has been very busy recently—and since its inception in 2001—and just completed an acquisition this week of Operational Security Systems Inc. (OSS), an Atlanta, Ga.-based security integrator with an additional location in Orlando, Fla. Founded in 1972, Operational Security Systems is run by president Jim Coleman, who along with more than 50 colleagues from the company will be joining the Convergint team.

Moceri told SSN that he is excited to have Coleman and his entire team joining the Convergint Technologies family, as the company shares many of the same values as Convergint.

“We have a lot of respect for Jim and his company as he has created a strong culture and team that is very focused on the service side of the business, which is how we have grown our organization,” said Moceri. “In addition to being strong from a service perspective, Jim has developed a very strong engineering company and a solutions provider that brings additional capacity and capabilities to our team.”

“Operational Security Systems and Convergint Technologies share two common core values: looking after the needs of our customers and looking after our fellow colleagues,” Jim Coleman said in the announcement. “Joining the Operational Security Systems team with Convergint Technologies brings deeper resources to our clients and new and exciting opportunities for our colleagues. This acquisition will prove beneficial to all involved.”

Convergint Technologies has seen a steady track record of both organic growth and growth through acquisition since its founding in 2001.

“We continue to grow very aggressively organically, but you can only grow so fast organically, so when we have an opportunity like this to bring in good quality people all at one time, we certainly want to take advantage of that,” he said.

Will Convergint continue to stay active on the acquisition front? “Absolutely—stay tuned,” said Moceri. “As always, we’ve got a nice pipeline of acquisitions and we expect another exciting year on that front. We’ve started off very strong in the first quarter along with very strong organic growth over the last year and we continue to supplement that growth with acquisitions.”

In addition to this acquisition, the company just opened an office in Toronto, which is part of the company’s planned expansion in the greater Toronto area. The new office is strategically located in the Bell Trinity Square beside the Eaton Centre on the PATH system, which is mostly an underground walkway that links about 30 km of shopping, services, and entertainment in downtown Toronto, the company noted.

“This exciting new location enables us to be at the doorstep of the downtown Financial District and to support all of our existing and future clients in the area while delivering our Values & Beliefs to be our best customers’ best service provider,” Greg Taylor, vice president, Eastern Canada Operations for Convergint Technologies, said in the announcement.

Security and building automation technicians, as well as locksmith services, will also be added to this location to provide rapid response for clientele, and the new office will also serve as a satellite learning center. “We plan to host Lunch & Learns at the site with our technology partners to provide our clients with information about the latest trends and technologies in electronic security and building automation solutions,” Eric Heagle, business development manager for Convergint Technologies, said in the announcement.

At ISC West 2017 earlier this month, Galaxy Control Systems solidified its commitment to cloud-based solutions with the announcement of its new Cloud Concierge, a cloud-based access control and monitoring solution. Galaxy also just released a new whitepaper this week entitled, “Understanding Cloud Services for Access Control,” further exemplifying the company’s commitment to its customers by providing education and awareness.

“Galaxy Control Systems recognized early on that cloud services had the potential to deliver new flexibility and benefits for the security market,” Lukas Le, director of Cloud Services, Galaxy Control Systems, told Security Systems News. Le said that Galaxy has been working with cloud and hosted solutions for years to develop a high level of experience and expertise so the company could provide leadership and strong support for its customers.

“We have also been watching the market to gauge the increasing level of interest, knowledge and acceptance of this new approach,” he explained. “Today, we see that the current mature state of the necessary technologies will let us leverage the recent release of our mobile applications while delivering on a business model that is mutually beneficial for the integrator, end user and Galaxy alike.”

“Security professionals—both channel and end users—are recognizing the operational and cost benefits of a hosted collaborative access control solution,” Rick Caruthers, executive vice president, Galaxy Control Systems, said in the announcement. “With Cloud Concierge, we’ve reduced the complexity to allow resellers to comfortably sell a cost-effective solution to their base without having to assume responsibilities associated with system monitoring and management.”

He continued, “By joining the Cloud Concierge program, integrators who specialize and excel in their specific areas can focus on what they do best rather than trying to provide an end-to-end solution themselves. Best of all, by working with trusted partners to deploy, administer and maintain systems, end users can devote their time and energy to theircore business and operations.”

Unlike a traditional access control system, where door locks and controllers are connected to on-premise access control servers that store the system settings, enrollees and rules, and run the access control software application, with the new Galaxy Control Systems cloud-based access control solution, the access control servers are located remotely.

“Door locks and controllers communicate with the remote cloud servers through an encrypted Internet connection,” said Le. “This arrangement offers security and maintenance advantages, and lets system administrators and service staff access the system from anywhere they can reach the Internet using a standard browser, with no special software required on their devices.”

Le said that there is an up-front cost savings for customers who are installing new systems, and for customers with existing systems “the choice of timing might be dependent on the age of the on-premise hardware, availability of service and maintenance staff, and similar factors,” he noted. “Initially, we will focus our efforts on our current dealers, and we expect that continued education using webinars, workshops and similar hands-on methods will continue to increase adoption.”

Although there are many customers who understand the cloud, cloud service adoption “is primarily about educating our customers about the benefits.” Le said. “For those already familiar with the benefits of cloud services, it’s an easy discussion—these customers can’t wait to move their access control into the cloud. For those that are less familiar or less comfortable with cloud services, they will need a bit more education to prepare them to make this move.”

A good example of Galaxy’s ongoing commitment to educate and inform is the publishing if its new whitepaper, which provides insights into the growing realm of cloud-based services and how they are changing the way access control systems can be deployed and used. In the paper, readers will find an overview of cloud technology and learn how and where access control cloud services can be applied for maximum economic and security benefits to the organization. The whitepaper also touches on decision factors to assess when considering a move to cloud services, each of which helps inform the decision-making process.

“We recognize that not everyone in the security industry has the time or resources to stay current with new technologies,” Caruthers said in the whitepaper’s release. “We developed our new whitepaper to provide information for our community, to help accelerate their understanding of the benefits of access control cloud services.”

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—The Monitoring Association, formerly CSAA, announced details of its 2017 Annual Meeting—the first since the name change—which will be held at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Ariz., October 7-11. Jack Uldrich, a global futurist, speaker and author of 11 books, will deliver the conference's keynote on Oct. 9.

Uldrich is a frequent speaker on emerging technology, change management and leadership and has addressed hundreds of corporations, associations and not-for-profit organizations, TMA noted in its announcement.

“In the near future, the greatest change will be the accelerating rate of change itself,” Uldrich said in a prepared statement. “I’ll outline the trends transforming the world of tomorrow, as well as identify concrete actions business leaders can take today to future-proof themselves and their companies against ‘the tides of tomorrow,’” he added.

“Over the past several years, we have ‘reimagined’ our annual meeting to provide participants with the kind of value in both content and engagement that is unmatched at any other industry event,” TMA president Pam Petrow said in a prepared statement. “2017 will build on our past successes – we’ll present a program of the kind of top-level engagement and professional development that our members have come to expect from our Annual Meeting, while we celebrate our new name and our mission to advance the professional monitoring industry.”

Additional education sessions at the Annual Meeting, which will be held Oct. 9 to 11, will focus on helping leaders address critical issues and challenges facing the monitoring industry, such as best practices in operations, executive management, technology updates, and telecomm issues, TMA said in its announcement. The complete roster of speakers will be announced over the summer. TMA will hold Board of Directors and Committee meetings October 7-8.

To see the preliminary schedule, register, and reserve hotel rooms for the TMA Annual Meeting, visit tma.us/2017am. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess is approximately a 30-minute drive from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

LOWELL, Mass.—Consumers see more clearly how smart home devices can directly benefit their lives, and are planning to purchase more smart home devices in the future, according to a consumer survey commissioned by PlumChoice Inc., a provider of premium technical services for IoT and cloud brands, and the Z-Wave Alliance, an open consortium of leading global companies deploying Z-Wave.

According to this second annual consumer benchmark survey, titled, “2016: Year of the Smart Device,” 52 percent of all respondents plan to buy a smart device in the next two years, and of those who own smart devices, 84 percent said they may make another smart purchase in the next two years

“It’s clear from our data that not only has the smart home arrived, but the benefits of adding connectivity to the things in our home are finally being realized,” Mitchell Klein, executive director of the Z-Wave Alliance, said in the announcement. “It’s exciting to finally see consumers understanding the value of connecting multiple devices together and to see categories like smart security, thermostats and safety grow year over year.”

The report helps device makers and their partners understand current connected and smart home device ownership, interest in future purchases and perceived smart home device benefits. In addition, it outlines the services that brands can tie to these products to drive more revenue and consumer loyalty, and highlights the need for companies to provide consumers a user experience that allows their smart home devices to fit easily into their lives.

With the majority of consumers reporting owning a total of four to six smart home devices (61 percent having interconnected some of those devices), interoperability becomes a key factor as consumers add more connected devices, according to the report.

“The smart home industry is thriving, and many companies are recognizing that their success is dependent on a seamless consumer user experience,” Noelani McGadden, vice president of IoT at PlumChoice, said in the press release. “Last year was a pivotal year for the smart home industry, with the number of people who own a smart device increasing by a staggering 259 percent. As smart home device adoption continues to grow, brands must cater to consumers who are expecting support services as part of their purchase, and at the very least provide installation support.”

According to the report, smart appliances (smart refrigerator, washer/dryer, etc.) and smart smoke detectors are among the smart home products with the highest year-over-year growth, with 267 percent and 250 percent respectively

All types of services and support expected from brands increased since 2015, with installation support listed as a top need at 68 percent, the report found.

The survey also examined consumer behavior—including purchase drivers and rate of adoption—of homeowners compared to renters, along with comparisons between age, gender and current device owners.

On the front page of this site, you’ll begin to see ssnTVnews video interviews posted each week from several members of the team, including myself, our editor Paul Ragusa, and SSN’s VP and group publisher Tim Purpura.

Each ISC West we talk on camera with a variety of companies—residential and commercial companies, monitoring centers, integrators, installers, research firms and manufacturers—to both hear about their latest initiatives as well as gain insight into the benefits of ISC West for companies that we speak with.

One thing I’ve said about each industry event, including ISC West, is that it gives the editors a great chance to meet and talk face-to-face with companies; seeing as the Security Systems News office is based on the coast of Maine, most of our interviews are conducted over the phone.

Besides the opportunity to in person with professionals in the industry, it was great to be right on the show this year, able to see and feel the energy of this year’s attendance—which is up 3 percent from the previous year.

Additionally, early responses for our latest News Poll, asking readers about their experience with ISC West 2017, are also saying that traffic is up this year.

Just starting to recover from ISC West 2017, which is a testament to how busy and well attended the show was this year. I am still waiting for final numbers from ISC but Sherida Sessa, industry vice president, ISC Events & Connected Security Expo, did say by email that both the number of attendees and exhibitors was up from last year.

There was also a sense of renewed optimism—and a healthy buzz on the show floor—about the security industry in general and where it is headed in this age of high tech products.

Speaking of new tech, there was an abundance of new products, and new companies at ISC this year, and the SIA New Product Showcase (NPS) award winners (see list below) exemplifies how tech-driven the industry has become and will continue to be moving forward. [See my and Spencer Ives’ daily blog coverage of ISC West for more].

This year’s Best New Product in the SIA New Product Showcase was CrucialTrak’s Biometric Access Control System (BACS), which according to the company is the “world’s first” multi-biometric authentication technology, providing the highest security measures by layering four different biometric authentications into one terminal. In each BACS module, up to four biometric identification technologies are considered: touchless fingerprint, iris patterns, vein patterns and facial recognition authentication.

“Many returning companies entered the SIA New Product Showcase this year, and many new entrants also competed in the showcase,” SIA CEO Don Erickson said in the announcement. “New and familiar faces did very well in the 2017 showcase. I congratulate CrucialTrak for distinguishing itself as Best New Product overall in a very competitive year.”

The SIA NPS had 120 entries from small, medium and large companies in the security industry, representing roughly a 20 percent increase over last year and set a record for entrants in recent years, according to SIA. The NPS judges presented awards in 29 product and service categories.

By many counts, this year’s ISC West was a fantastic show. Walking the show floor, the traffic seemed great. Beyond that, there seemed to be a good level of engagement at the booths.

The SSN team gathered this week to talk about what really stood out at the show. One thing my colleagues and I heard—and saw—was the importance of integrations and partnership in this industry.

In my first discussion on the show floor, EMERgency 24’s Deanna Blair, independent sales representative, and I talked about how integrations and partnerships are crucial, as well as the company's recent integration with Aiphone's IX series.

At MONI Smart Security's booth, I enjoyed speaking with Jeffery Gardner, company president and CEO, and Peter Tonti, vice president of product development, about the company's approach to partnerships. Recently, the company partnered with AAA and AARP. Tonti said that the company looks for organizations where values overlap.

On the show floor, I talked with I-View Now a bit about the company's latest partnerships such as with Bosch, Hikvision, and Honeywell cameras as well as end user communication devices like Bold's NotifyMe and Affiliated's AlertMessage. This week I spoke with the company more about its latest partnership with COPS Monitoring.

For a full wrap-up of my show floor meetings you can click here. You can also find an overview of SSN editor Paul Ragusa's travels at the show here. It will be intersting to see in the future how companies partner and work together.

On Tuesday, I attended the annual DMP Owners Forum, which is “one the ways we show our gratitude to our dealers,” Jon Adams, DMP dealer development manager, told a room full of DMP’s top 100 dealers.

This year’s speakers included Major Gen. (Ret.) Vincent Boles, who shared the wisdom he has gained throughout his military career, as well as some of his views on what makes a true leader. Boles gave out his book—4-3-2-1 Leadership: What America’s Sons and Daughters Taught Me on the Road from Second Lieutenant to Two-Star General—to all attendees. The other featured speaker was former Southwest Airlines senior level leader, Jason Young, author of the books The Culturetopia Effect and Servicetopia.

Attendees also learned how DMP is giving dealers access to new markets through a variety of new platforms, including DMP’s CompanyStore, which enables dealers to participate in the DIY marketplace; Secura, a new high-volume residential dealer program; OnDemand Monitoring, a new revenue generator for dealers to offer to consumers that don’t want to sign long term contracts; and new avenues in home automation, including integration with AppleTV, Amazon Echo and Google Home.

DMP executive management also featured sessions on new technology that will be available this summer, including previews of the DMP’s Gunshot Detector that goes on Existing DMP XR Series panels and DMP’s new Doorbell Camera, which Mark Hillenburg, DMP’s executive director of marketing, said is “deeply integrated” and will “provide new highly sought after functionality to the existing DMP Virtual Keypad, App and control panel family."

Jeff Britton, DMP’s VP of product design, also walked attendees through DMP’s Tech App Platform, which was “developed to save time on new installs and service calls and really to eliminate some of the service calls you are having to make today. The platform will continue to grow because we feel there are a lot of things that your techs should be able to do right from their phone or their tablet.”

Day Two

On Wednesday, I began my day at Axis Communications’ 10th annual press breakfast. With the theme of “The Magic of IoT,” Fredrik Nilsson, VP Americas, and Martin Gren, founder, who were both dressed as magicians—you gotta love these guys!—talked about how the company plans to bring the same innovation and “magic” that it brought to camera technology to other products, such as its Network Speakers, which make up an integrated audio system that is ideal for retail settings. Axis also teamed up with Cognimatics to develop analytic capabilities for its True View People Counter, which is also ideal for retail environments, providing valuable business intelligence data.

Gren also provided a preview of its newest technology—the AXIS D2050-VE Network Radar Detector, an outdoor motion detector with radar technology that can provide cost-efficient perimeter protection and decrease false alarms. The Company is also previewing at ISC West a selection of products that will be launched later this year, including new high resolution fixed domes in AXIS M30 Series, AXIS P32 Series, and AXIS Q35 Series. Axis also unveiled its AXIS FA Series with modular cameras for highly discreet, cost-efficient video surveillance, and three new additions to AXIS P13 Series that offer 4K resolution in full frame rate and that enable coverage of large areas with high image detail.

Following the breakfast I headed to the show floor, which was abuzz with high traffic and early indicators point to a record year in terms of attendance for this year’s show.

My first booth visit was at Legrand, a global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures. Manny Linhares, director of strategy, IoT, told me about Eliot, a Legrand global IoT program, that “brings the promise of interoperability, providing the building blocks and infrastructure to enable IoT and bring connectivity to where it is needed.”

Moving to the Qolsys showcase room, I was able to test drive the company’s second generation panel, which is sleeker and more powerful with some very cool new capabilities. Kevin Woodworth, director of technical account management, pointed out that the panel is the culmination of “all of the lessons we learned from our first panel, and what we learned from dealer feedback.” The panel has a 7-inch HD touchscreen with built-in 5MP camera and multiple wireless radios, as well as LTE connectivity, advanced encryption, a built-in router, a glass break detector, dual path connectivity and Bluetooth disarming, to name just a few of the upgrades.

Over at the FLIR Systems booth, I was given a demo of the FLIR United VMS 8.0, the latest version of the company’s comprehensive, enterprise-level video management solution for managing video security operations. The company introduced three high-performance security cameras, including the FLIR PT-Series HD thermal and visible camera system, the FLIR Quasar 4K fixed box camera, and the FLIR Ariel 3MP (3-megapixel) corner camera. All three cameras integrate with FLIR United VMS 8.0 and expand the company’s end-to-end line of security solutions. I also got a demo of the company’s Cameleon command and control platform.

At the Interlogix booth, the company was highlighting TruVision Navigator 7, the latest release of its popular video management software. TruVision Navigator 7 now works seamlessly with Interlogix TruPortal access control systems and IFS network switches, allowing end users to manage their entire security system from one single, easy-to-use interface.

This year’s ASSA ABLOY Press Event focused on “Security in the IoT Age,” and Martin Huddart, president, looked at how IoT will affect security. He aptly pointed out, “We are producing data, not products today,” noting that the key as we move forward as an industry is “bringing all these devices together.”

Next, I caught up with Denis Hebert, president, Feenics, a provider of cloud-based access control solutions. The company launched its enterprise Keep by Feenics platform that delivers scalability, flexibility and advanced security. The new cloud-based access control as service (ACaaS) platform integrates native visitor management, and incorporates RESTful API that dramatically simplifies integrating complementary systems plus connecting Keep to applications outside of the organization. Built specifically for the cloud and hosted by Amazon Web Services, Keep significantly minimizes costs through simple, maintenance-free upgrades and patches.

At the LifeSafety Power booth, Joe Holland, vice president of engineering, gave me a glimpse into how the company continues to “innovate the category of power,” with new predictive analytics and critical reporting capabilities. The company announced a breakthrough in connecting intelligent power management analytics to leading software manufacturers directly through Authentic Mercury Security hardware. “This truly enhances and expands the potential for systems integrators to offer remote power management to customers who will benefit from predictive analysis and detailed reporting on the health and well-being of their solutions,” said Holland.

I also met with Glen L. Smith, director, dealer operations, ADT, who told me about the great strides the ADT Dealer Program has made in the past year alone. In the area of support for dealers, the company went from a net promoter score of -9 to 76 in just 18 months. How did they do this? “We asked our dealers what was broken,” said Smith, who noted that response time was a big issue for dealers. In response to this concern, Smith said they went from a two-hour hold time to a zero hold time in just one year.

At the Bosch Security Systems booth, the company featured a completely new portfolio of IP cameras and video analytics that extend surveillance beyond security, services that create recurring monthly revenue opportunities for dealers, and an all-in-one wireless multi-sensor that can be configured as a door/window contact, water or tilt sensor. Bosch also introduced In-Store Analytics, a solution to provide retailers with valuable insights on store traffic for improving operations, customer engagement and sales.

At the Alarm.com booth, Brian Lohse, director, commercial sales, talked about the company’s strategy to take what it has been doing on the residential side and bring that to the SMB space. On the residential side, the company’s open platform continues to expand integrations with a broad range of devices to help its dealer partners extend their footprint in the smart home. Alarm.com has also extended 4G LTE communications capabilities. In addition, Alarm.com highlighted its Business Intelligence service that helps its dealer partners lower attrition by analyzing data points.

Next, I caught up with Jeff Whitney, VP of marketing for Arecont Vision, who went over some of the big announcements for the company at the show, including Arecont Vision SNAPstream bandwidth reduction technology that supports multiple new and existing megapixel cameras; SurroundVideo Omni G3 Omnidirectional multi-sensor cameras with remote setup; Arecont Vision Compact MicroBullet indoor/outdoor, day/night megapixel camera; and Arecont Vision MicroDome G2 with Integrated IR indoor/outdoor day/night ultra-low profile megapixel camera.

At the Pelco by Schneider Electric booth, Sharad Shekhar, CEO, Pelco SVP, video line of business, and Diane Feliciano, VP, global marketing, spoke about how the company has spent the last 12-18 months “transforming and repositioning the company” for the future. “We have been making changes across the entire organization for the last couple of years, from technology developments to new sales, support and operations programming,” said Feliciano. Pelco also showcased several new and enhanced products and systems, including its VideoXpert Video Management System (VMS); Sarix Enhanced IP Cameras with preloaded analytics on every model; ExSite Enhanced Explosion-Proof Cameras; and Optera Panoramic Multi-Sensor Cameras.

I finished my day with a visit to the Altronix booth, where Kirby Han, art director, took me through the company’s latest upgrades and new products, including its new NetWay Spectrum Fiber Solutions, its eBridge 800E EoC Receiver with Integral PoE Switch and its expanded NetWay Line with new managed midspans and endspans.

Day Three

I started day three at the Allegion Trends Talk breakfast, where I was able to speak with Rob Martens, futurist and VP, strategy & partnerships, about how the company is leveraging the latest technologies to provide the best solutions for customers. “I am the tip of the spear when it comes to new technology,” he said. “I create the chaos that the company has to deliver on.” Product wise, the company’s Engage platform is expanding to include many more products, “so that level of connectivity is now getting rolled out and becoming a reality.”

At the Genetec booth, I spoke with Andrew Elvish, VP, marketing and product management, about the success of the company’s Mission Control system, which he said is “a game changer,” as the decision support system provides organizations with heightened levels of situational intelligence, visualization, and complete incident management capabilities. He also pointed to how the company’s Retail Intelligence application provides business intelligence and operational efficiencies. The company also highlighted the latest capabilities of its Synergis access control system, part of its Security Center unified offering.

At the AMAG Technology booth, I met company president Kurt Takahashi, and spoke with Kim Rahfaldt, public relations manager. The company unveiled Symmetry CONNECT, its new policy-based identity management system that delivers an easy to use, automated software platform to manage employee, contractor and visitor identities, satisfy regulatory audit and compliance requirements and reduce the administrative costs of the security team. When used with Symmetry Access Control, organizations have a robust identity management system that utilizes data to secure people, property and assets, and automates business processes for better operational efficiency.

At the HID Global booth, I spoke with Anthony Petrucci, director of global public relations and corporate communications, about the company’s new indoor Location Services for workforce optimization, which won the SIA New Product Showcase award. The Location Services provide organizations with visibility into the location of their workforce in a facility, making it possible to analyze room usage for better building management and increased operational efficiency. He also spoke about how the company is leveraging Bluetooth low energy (BLE) for new and emerging applications in the connected environment, as well as the role of mobile access, advanced smart card technology and biometrics in the company’s overall strategy.

At the Milestone booth, I spoke with Courtney Dillon Pederson, communications manager, about the company’s strategic alliance with Lenel, which will begin selling Milestone Systems Video Management Software (VMS) solutions directly through the Lenel Value Added Reseller (VAR) channel in North America. “We are really excited about this partnership and believe this is a great combination,” she said, noting that this alliance will reduce the total cost of ownership for users.

I next visited the Eagle Eye Systems/Brivo booth, and sat down with Dean Drako, president and CEO for Eagle Eye, who shared his views on the “continued adoption of cloud.” He also talked about the technology partnership with Hikvision to deliver customers a seamless and cybersecure cloud video surveillance solution. Eagle Eye also highlighted that is has added Camera Cyber Lockdown to all its products, which blocks cameras from communicating with the Internet, stops them from being attacked and compromised. Drako also spoke about the company’s implementation of two-factor authentication, which “will be the standard for the industry moving forward.”

At the IDIS booth, I was able to sit down with company president and COO Albert Ryu, who shared his views on how the company is poised to leverage technology to provide the customized solutions for customers. He also spoke about how the company, which is celebrating 20 years, is “bringing AI to security.” On the product side, the company featured H.265 IPC/NVR products, including the new IDIS 12MP Super Fisheye Camera. Also featured were new low light and long distance solutions, and end-user focused enhancements to the company’s award-winning PTZ tracking controls, IDIS Smart UX Controls v2.0 and retail analytics/business intelligence suite IDIS VA in the Box. The company also highlighted its powerful 64-channel IDIS DR-8364 NVR, which delivers enterprise-level performance at an NVR price.

Moving over to the Hanwha Techwin booth, Miguel Lazatin, director of product and channel marketing, North America, walked me through all of the new features and capabilities of the Wisenet 5 chip, which was unveiled recently. The new chip powers the Wisenet X series, a new product line that features 27 models split up between 2MP and 5MP camera lines. Features include 150dB WDR performance and clear images in extreme low light conditions, convenient USB port is also available for easy setup and installation, as well as license-free audio and video analytics, dual SD card slot for increased onboard storage and image stabilization using gyro sensors. The company also announced that it is investing $100 million to create a security-only manufacturing facility in Vietnam.

Next, Dahua product marketing manager Jennifer Hackenburg, gave me a tour of the booth, showing me how the company is embracing “deep learning,” pointing out that the company is “ahead of the curve” in leveraging all of the enhanced capabilities that deep learning can provide. The company announced that it is working with NVIDIA to bring artificial intelligence (AI) functionality to its next-generation deep learning products. Equipped with NVIDIA GPUs, the Dahua DeepSense advanced high-capacity video analytics server provides deep learning capabilities. The technology delivers a powerful, scalable method of extracting rich metadata and processing structural data to deliver fast and accurate analytics. Dahua also announced that Movidius’ Myriad 2 Vision Processing Unit (VPU) technology will power select Dahua video surveillance cameras with advanced intelligence functions that train the devices to gather, analyze, and retain information much like the human brain.

I next visited with Jim Hoffpauir, president, Zenitel, at the Vingtor Stentofon booth. He showed me how the company’s Turbine Intercom Station can provide a multitude of solutions, in any setting, from schools to airports to military and government applications. He also talked about his dedication to educating customers on how to pick the right system, and he created a scorecard to follow. He noted that it is important to have three key features—intelligibility, interoperability and the “ilities,” which relates to “high availability, scalability, defensibility and maintainability.”

At the Tyco-Johnson Controls booth, I spoke with Roger Barlow, senior director, product management, TycoSP about a number of new products across its intrusion, access control and video divisions, and how the company is benefitting from the “synergies between Tyco and Johnson Controls,” he said. He also showed the DSC iotega, the company’s new innovative security and lifestyle management platform. A full-featured security technology, iotega facilitates home automation enhancements and add-ons via software apps. The company also announced its SG System 5 now supports PSTN line cards on the SG-System 5 receiver to give central stations the flexibility to monitor both IP and PSTN alarm signals, and how its EntraPass Go Support for Apple Watch is the “industry’s first Apple Watch mobile credential that allows card holders to use the watch as a mobile access control credential."

Next, I visited Ditek, a surge protection company that works closely with the security industry to protect vital systems and equipment from being damaged by power surges, saving money in the process. Jorge Andino, field sales engineer, pointed out that the company does this by providing a site survey for each project, giving that customer the right surge protection equipment to meet their needs. “Our surge protection equipment acts as the sacrificial lamb, preventing costly damage to the equipment.”

I finished my day speaking with Rick Caruthers, executive VP, Galaxy Control Systems, who told me about the company’s new announcement that is “committing resources and manpower to providing cloud solutions to our customers,” he said. The Galaxy Cloud Concierge solution is a complete turnkey, cloud-based, fully hosted and managed access control and monitoring solution that includes professional 24/7 management and supports industry standard access technologies.

Day Four

On Friday I started the day at the Morse Watchmans booth speaking with George Lawson, account executive, and Joseph Granitto, COO, about the company’s key control and access management security systems, which are getting smarter and safer with a lot more functionality. “We take feedback from customers to add new features and make our products easier to use,” said Lawson. In addition to an improved motherboard powering its systems, the company is unveiling a new enterprise-based software system. And its Asset Watcher, which the company tested exhaustively over the past year, is set to come out soon as well.

At the Pivot3 booth, I spoke with Brandon Reich, surveillance business leader, about the company’s strategic original equipment manufacturer (OEM) relationship with Intelligent Security Systems (ISS), an innovator in the development of advanced video management and video analytics software. Under the agreement, ISS will license the Pivot3 hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) platform and integrate it with ISS video management software (VMS) to supply more robust security intelligence and video storage options to customers. “We are really excited about that partnership,” said Reich. “We can provide a great solution set together.”

At the Eizo booth, I spoke with Keisuke Akiba, product and marketing manager, and Brian Cote, about the company’s security and surveillance monitoring solutions. The IP decoding monitors come equipped with visibility enhancement technology for improving the clarity of video footage in real time. Akiba demonstrated the multi-monitor flexibility and showed me the 4k IPS 31.5-inch monitor with 3840 x 2160 native resolution.

Over at the Boon Edam booth, Tracie Thomas, marketing manager, gave me an overview of the company’s many entry solutions, as well as news on the company’s expanding sales and customer service staff to support record sales growth. The company also announced the expansion of its product-training schedule, with more programs and locations. And, soon, Boon Edam will offer its revolving door specifications on the ARCOM MasterSpec platform, which is widely used by architect and design firms in North America for commercial buildings.

At the 3xLOGIC booth, Suzi Abell, tradeshow and events manager, shared show news, including the company’s new integrated, hosted video and access control solution for the SMB market and the company’s partnership with Bold Technologies to offer an advanced video solution. The companies recently completed integration of Bold’s ManitouNEO with the 3xLOGIC VIGIL video platform, which supports cloud-managed video. The company also announced the release of a new multi-sensor camera and updated VIGIL software.

At the Panasonic booth, Charlie Hare, national category manger, security and evidence management solutions, walked me through some of the company’s big announcements at the show, including the company’s expanded portfolio of i-PRO Extreme Surveillance Technology and its new i-PRO Extreme PTZ Camera with Advanced Analytics, as well as its latest video surveillance solutions. The i-PRO features a new chip set that produces “amazing picture quality,” said Hare.

Over at the ReconaSense booth, Clayton Brown, product manager, described the company’s next-generation situational awareness platform, which provides “the tools to perform real-time critical analysis,” he said. John Carter, the CTO of ReconaSense, is a former NASA engineer. The software leverages the IoT and big data with access control and video analytics to drive “proactive response” across diverse systems. By connecting the dots and alerting operators of suspicious events, the technology facilitates better decision-making and optimal resource allocation.

My final booth visit was over at NVIDIA, which was showcasing some of its latest IVA-related, AI technology for smart and safe cities, featuring many partners such as IBM, Hikvision and Dahua. Deepu Talla, VP/GM, autonomous machines, showed me how the company’s GPU computing is not only powering its many partners but “driving the latest applications for safety and security in AI cities,” he said, including public safety, traffic management, behavior analysis, video analytics, anomaly detection, facial recognition, fast forensics, parking management and robotics.